BREAD!!!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Bread is something that most people have in their home on a daily basis. In an effort to be more healthy and save money I've been looking into baking my own. The smell of baking bread is the most amazing smell ever. It's homey and warm and tasty and it makes my mouth water like no other.


I browsed the internet and found this recipe here:

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/11/04/homemade-bread-cheap-delicious-healthy-and-easier-than-you-think/

I followed it three different times and figured out a thing or two that I wanted to do differently.
  • Let the yeast bloom. When you prep your yeast with the warm water (not too warm don't want to kill it just wake it up) add the sugar that the recipe calls for and let it sit. It'll get some foam going and a lot of bubbles and I feel like it just makes for a better bread.
  • This is not a place to substitute butter for margarine. Use real butter. 
  • Make sure you give yourself enough room to knead the dough. (This sounds like a no brainer but not really. Try your table instead of your counter.)

Summer Salad

Saturday, May 7, 2011

I'm charging my phone. I promise I shall stop sucking by writing a food blog and a) not updating it frequently and b) not giving you photos of the food. Whoever you is. I'm pretty sure no one reads this.

Anyway it's a very basic salad. It's light and fun with equal parts sweet and tart.

  • Favorite salad greens (preferably ones with some bite)
  • Mandarin oranges (get the jar where they're packed in 100% juice and you'll thank me later)
  • Your favorite berries (strawberries or blackberries work well)
  • Plain goat cheese
  • Walnuts; roasted but unsalted please
  • Green onions 
  • Simply flavored grilled or baked chicken
  • Poppyseed dressing
Combine all ingredients and mix to your hearts content. Eat, be merry and realize you just had a meal that you didn't have to feel guilty about. 

Smothered Pork Chops

First off these aren't really traditional. They're boneless and they're not breaded. Drew has had pork chops before and he has HATED them. But they're one of my favorite dishes so I just had had had to tweak it to work here. Here's what I did (and no I don't have any pictures and yes I know I fail....moving right along):

  • Boneless pork chops (center cut loin)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Minced garlic
  • Yellow onion
  • Butter
  • Olive oil 
Sprinkle chops with seasonings. Sear in large pan with the oil (just enough so it won't stick and you get a good crust...although the heat level helps with that). Place on plate. If they're a little under done that's fine. You really just want to sear both sides. They'll finish cooking in the gravy.

Ok once they're off to the side, cut your onion up according to your preference and throw your onion in the pan with some butter. Cut the heat low, throw a lid over it and let the onions get all soft and brown and delicious. Slide those onions on top of the pork chops.

Melt some more butter in your pan and sprinkle flour in (this will depend on how much gravy you're making which depends on how many pork chops you have). Let your roux brown up a bit. Then add water, put the heat on medium high and let it work. You want to leave the lid off so it thickens up. (If the lid is on, steam hits the lid and condensates and drips back into the gravy.) Which it's the appropriate thickness, layer your chops in the pan and then put the top on and let them just get.....delicious (oh and ya know...finish cooking. Unless you like your pork underdone. I wouldn't recommend that though.).

I have no amounts. If you LOVE the taste of onions use a shit ton. If not don't. And so it goes. As always if you try it lemme know how it goes!

Chicken Nuggets!!!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

So the other night I made chicken nuggets from scratch. They're one of Drew's favorites and they can be really quick. And they were simple.


  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • onion powder
  • garlic powder
  • salt
  • pepper
  • chili powder
  • bread crumbs
  • butter
Combine all of the last 2 ingredients and mix well. Form nuggets and dip in butter then in bread crumbs. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, flipping halfway through. I didn't flip halfway through exactly (12/7) and as a result they weren't all that crisp on one side.








Stop the Presses He Likes A Salad

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Now normally Andrew only likes taco salad. Preferably from Fresh Express's kit which they've discontinued and I now get the pleasure of recreating. :(

But I made a salad the other day that he actually liked!

  • Lettuce
  • Onion
  • Tomatoes
  • Bacon
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic Powder
  • Green Goddess dressing
I was SHOCKED and surprised that he liked it. He's not really a salad guy at all and when he does do salads it's not with all of these different things going on. I'm happy!

Rell Cakes!

Friday, January 7, 2011

So in the past couple of months I've been experimenting with cupcakes. I love cake on any given day and cake mixes are a great way to have a little fun for a great price.

I have a friend Sherill and....she's down home fantastic. She's warm, kind, sassy, generous....just a really great person. And she mentioned dulce de leche one day and I put together a cupcake around that incidentally reminded me of her.

 So here we have all the ingredients. Spice Cake mix, Pumpkin Spice pudding mix, whipped cream cheese icing.
 Yummy yummy batter. Seriously. SOOOOOO good.


 Some of them I piped the caramel in and then some of them I cut out the top and put a bit of the caramel in there.
 

My favorite placement of the dulce de leche was with the tops cut out and then placed back on. 


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